Major search underway for man missing in North Taranaki

A major search and rescue training exercise in North Taranaki has very real implications, with the team looking for a man who went missing more than a year ago. Uruti Community Hall is the base for the search, which Bill Jager from Taranaki Land, Search and Rescue, said is less an exercise and more a mission. Police plead for information after elderly woman goes missing in Tasman region Police find body in search for missing Queenstown man Body found in search for missing woman “I think that gives you extra purpose,” said Mr Jager. That purpose has mobilised 70 people from across the North Island to search for 31-year-old Taranaki man Karl Roberts, who went missing in August, 2017. Constable Andrew Wong Too, the officer in charge of the search and rescue, said Mr Roberts had had a car crash up Uruti Rd, 5km from State Highway Three and 50km from New Plymouth. His car was later found down a bank, but police believe he survived the crash. An initial two-day search found only his shoes, 3km from his car. “We believe he made his way up a farm track to where his shoes were found. From there, that’s where the mystery really begins,” said Mr Too. And that’s where this weekend’s operation began. It will search a 22 square kilometre area of difficult terrain for any trace of Mr Roberts. The man’s family is also involved and are very supportive of the effort, said to Mr Too. Newshub.